George, the vapor flow going up travels through “risers”. At least that’s what there called in chemical plants and refineries. The trays are there to promote liquid vapor contact to effect the temperature change to send lighter molecules up and allow heavier ones down.
Great explanation as always George. I had been looking at these and wondering, WHY? I don't do neutral runs, I'm looking for FLAVOR 😉 Thanks and have a great Holiday Weekend 🥃 #HAPPYDISTILLING !!
I love mine and it help my proof and I love my PID you sent me I would recommend everyone get one from George its so easy to maintain my temp.Thanks again George Happy Distilling.
I use a 1/4" line connected to a tiny brass needle valve to control the water to my dephlegmator and that works flawlessly. That will give you precision control over the water flow. I run my dephlegmator and my shotgun condenser independently. In other words, I don't connect their water lines together at all. Very convenient!
I run my setup the same way saves a bunch on ice since the hot water from the dephlegmator is used to melt my sugar for the next batch and not the ice and a needle value is the only way to get the exact water flow
Hey George! I have not commented lately, but this one was super interesting. Hats off to you for teaching me something new just when I start thinking I've seen it all. Thanks
Thank you for stressing the use of a Dephlegmator George! I am wondering what you tend to distill with your glass setup in the background. I use mine for acid distillations.
George I have a Mile High Reflux still that I pack the column with copper packing and raschig rings and I always get 188 to 190. Can a bubble plate bring my proof up? Thanks and thank you for making these videos.
Yes, a bubble plate can put out 95-96% (190-192 proof), but more than that the column is doing multiple distillations this raises proof, but it also strips out flavors. All neutral spirits like Vodka are distilled in reflux type columns, and not pot stills.
You should look at cost vs. reward too. What do you gain going from 190 to 194? You're probably tempering your final product down to 90 - 100 proof anyway, right.
Okay people we are just about to get George over a 100k so let's not stop until until we get him there share with your friends and family and even your wife and let's get him over the top
I'm confused I got the exact 4 floor bubble plate and using my T500 kit and i don't have the dephlegmator and I get the plates bubbling like crazy and I get 95%-96% proof so I don't get you when you said it won't get it to bubble without dephlegmator and you won't get high proof 🤔 without the bubble plate and using my T500 with the original condenser I would get 92% now I get 95%-96% proof using bubble plate and T500 condenser straight on top of it. How come it worked out for me????
George it's been a few months since watching your channel. This has been a video I have been waiting to see. Perfect demonstration of the bubble plates and use of the Dephlegmator and the interaction. Look forward in trying my small setup to make some gin to see how it comes out. As your buddy says, "Chasing the Craft and for you George, keep up the informative videos and "Happy Distilling"
Many small distilleries use bubble plates, and they are very common in the whiskey and bourbon world with smaller batch style stills. Most bourbon/whiskey makers that use these batch stills use 4 or less plates when distilling bourbon/whiskey mashes. If your getting too high of a proof or not enough flavor, just disable a plate. Additionally, bubble plates require less power to create the velocity needed to move the ethanol up the column compared to perforated plates because of the liquid bed on the trays. The required velocity needed to move the ethanol up a column is a big deal when you begin to move past the 4" wide columns, not so much on smaller columns.
I think ive watched other videos on this from you before as well . I love watching your videos George , nobody does distilling videos better than you. ! That's my dream set-up , I'm saving for it right now actually. I can't wait to try one out . I appreciate you sharing all your valuable knowledge with us . Your the best George , Take care sir.
Excellent video George you got me very interested in building a deflamrater and a multi stage bubble plate going to start designing the whole still with all they bells and whistles Happy Distilling
Great knowledge !! Thank you. I have question about fruit distillation (apple). I would like to use bubble plates but what about final product in point of amount of it ?. Classical way double distillation (full copper) produce around 6-7 litres of pure spirit (56%) out of 160L of Ferment. With bubble column it will be significant decrease of amount of final product ?? Thans
George you do not have 16 plates. You have 4 plates. You do not count individual bubble plates/devices. All upcomers and downcomermers combined equal "the plate". Together they all equal a sort of distillation depending on reflux ran.
Better yeilds are to be had by increasing reflux from the reflux drum "dephlegnator" and keeping a level on all of the trays. Suppressing water vapors to fall down the down-comer, which should have a steady flow keeping the tray below it supplied with a level without flooding the tray or covering the cap completely. This is called loading the colomn. Thats how bubble caps and sieve trays are designed to work properly. To do this you need to set your tray temperature a few degrees above the OH temp with the bottoms temp in cascade. This is a column temperature profile. The top tray temp is the master and the bottoms temp the slave. This is how we distill hydrocarbons in the refinery. Of course you have to control the level in the reflux drum as well , which is in cascade to the feed flow to the boiler. This is contolled by increasing or decreasing the product out to the final holding tank or "jug" or whatever. However it may be difficult unless you have a continuous flow of cude material "unrefined heavy ends" or bottoms product to keep a level in the base or boiler. But then again its just a hobby and thats probably too elaborate for most hobby distillers. In my opion, using bubble caps is such a process is ludicrous if you aren't using the control systems to have a proper column profile. Meaning temperature level and flow controlers. While we are at it we mights as well throw on some vacuum compressors and distill at 92 deg F. Im for it. Someone setup a Delta V HMI and lets make some moonshine. 😂😂
I'm in the midst of making a 1g pressure cooker still. I decided to cut a hole for a stainless steel drink shaker thus having 1 bubble plate and creating more surface area and having a choice of adding mesh to reflux. Thoughts and ideas or opinions welcome. Still trying to come up with money for condenser....
So having a good pot still as a beginner would be a good starter and then with the addition of a few extra parts a man would have a reflux still........ Or get a reflux still and turn off the top condenser then you would have a pot still. TRICKY decision because as a beginner I do not know where I will end up as I LOVE Whisky but I also love a good vodka and all the other tipples in between. What I do know is that everything that I have made in the past has been based around a standard sized beer and cider fermentors with heat pads and warming chests. It is now that I would like to make the transition to a still. I believe that my dilemma is the first hurdle to get past. Any suggestions ????? For me the visual appearance of those bubble plates are just captivating.
I know this vid is a couple years old but there is some misleading information in this vid. Theoretical plates and multiple distillations on individual plates... That's not how it works. Each plate acts as a distillation. That's it. The column forms a temperature gradient, whether it be a reflux column full of packing or a bubble plate. In a packed column the gradient is continuous. In a bubble plate the gradients are separated into zones by the plates. This allows the various volatiles that make up the vapour to concentrate on the different plates. Low boiling point vapours compositions concentrate on the highest plate, highest temp at the bottom plate. The riser caps on a plate allow vapour to pass up the column. That's their purpose. Their not acting as individual distillation points. The distillation comes from the accumulated liquid on the plate that all the caps on that plate have produced together. Increasing the number of riser caps on a plate increases the volume of vapour that can flow up the column. The downcomers are there to prevent the plates from flooding. The combination of providing vapour a path up and liquid a path down, allows the various volatile fraction to shuffle around and compress or concentrate at the different temperature zones. All of this happening requires balancing the volume of vapour being fed to the column and the amount of vapour being knocked down by the reflux condenser.
As usual, great vid George. I see you had the bubble tube at the top, but does it matter if it goes at the top, middle or bottom of the column? Many thanks :)
A column such as this can be run as a pot still by doing exactly what some mistakenly do, remove the dephlegmator, insulate the column, and run it just using the condenser. No (or very little) reflux action will take place.
That column is not 16 theoretical plates. It takes 11+ plates to make a neutral. There is no way that column will make a neutral. The bubblers are in parallel with the plates and don't count as separate plates because they are all operating at the same temperature, fractionating the same alcohol component. That column is probably 6 theoretical plates, assuming the bubblers add 50% to the operation of the physical plates. If each bubbler added a plate, neutral columns would be 1 plate with about 20 bubblers on them. But in this example each of the bubblers is at the same temp and therefore fractionating the same alcohol component therefore counts as 1 plate. To be a true plate, it must operate at a different temperature than the plate above and below it.
I have been using copper mesh and want to change to the bubble plates in a four inch column. Where or who is building them or where to buy them George ? Thank you for the info !
CONGRATULATIONS George you made it 100k subscribers can't think of anyone who deserves it more thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us in a way we can all understand I know most of us really appreciate your hard work. Now we have to get Bearded and Jesse up there with you because you all bring a different perspective on our thing.
lol. Ok George here ya go you have the plate also called a tray the part that sticks up are bubble caps or risers the ones that stick down are your downcomer. hope that helps
It's way easier than it looks you just have to set the temp of the dephlegmator to flood the column to help strip more water as it passes through once you get it dailed in it's great.
Good knowledge but likely at the 301 level. I'm still a 101 noob with my Air Still running sugar wash. But loving the new hobby! Your vids and comment sections have been inspiring! Hope to catch your livestreams if you keep those going! 🤜🏻💥🤛🏻 ✌🏻💚🌱🔥🍻🍻🍻
Hey George! Love your videos! Looking to purchase my first still. Looking for a Reflux and the Glass Bubble has got my attention. Question… Would you recommend starting with the glass bubble? And is clean up taxing? Thank you!
George, i owe you an appoligy and a thanks. always said a sugar wash was a waste n pointless.....im an idiot for saying that number 1. made and ran a basic sugar wash then used beardeds apple pie recipe and wow!!! i will never use grain liklker again and try to make it taste like apples or anything other than what it is. i have seen the light that George has shown upon sugar washes lol
Flood is bad. You don’t want to much differential pressure (dp) between the trays or you won’t have a good cut and you will get carry over. If you have too much drive (heat in the bottom) in the tower you will overcome the reflux and get carry over. Realistically you could have many draw trays in which you could run your still 24 hours a day just like a refinery. You would have slough line getting rid of the tails an overhead line getting rid of the foreshore/heads and a product draw tray that pulls the hearts into a hearts stripper tower that has a reboiler on it , along with reflux lines or circ reflux lines. You could also control the tower pressure to control the cuts. Maybe even a vacuum tower!
Hi George, I have a T500 can I add a bubble plate it? & if yes do I need a pre condensing chamber as I adj the water in the T500? cheers mate, love your work.
I would much rather use a 30 gallon pot still simple liebig condenser with a swivel at the column where I can change the angle up or down to govern the amount and speed of carryover. I always have in the past taking soft copper and have a separate condenser on the arm to allow greater reflux back into the pot if I have it angled up you can get a little bit stronger hooch but you get less flavor obviously if you're doing it right you're distilling three times I would never use a bubbler unless I was trying to make rocket fuel or a whole hell of a lot of vodka. I mean they're fun to watch don't get me wrong but to me it overcomplicates the whole process. I can literally throw together a 6-ft condenser in probably an hour and a half
Fantastic attitude and wonderful energy; I can tell you're passionate about this and you want other people to understand it too! You have my subscription, and I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos.
You can buy it off of ali express or wish. They ship from china.. the one he has is about 200$. After shipping.. check out those sites . They also have good deals on the deflegmator and whole colums and parts to build your own .
Bubble plate vs sieve does not matter in this operation. Nor would it matter if the column was reasonably packed. The factors to consider would be how many stages or theoretical plates (if packed) would achieve the desired purity. Caps or not it does not matter for a system of this size or any system smaller than industrial scale
Question....How are the 3 bubble caps on each plate not operating in parallel versus in series? I'd think that to count as "3 theoretical plates per plate", they would have to be in series?
You would place it at the very top of your column, right at the point of no return going into the final condenser. Another words; the same place as in pot still mowed. I also have a temperature probe just underneath my pre-condenser, then one at the very bottom of my column; just above the boiler lid. All this makes for easier control of the run. But it’s up to the individual as to how they want to set up their system. That’s the beauty of this hobby, you can keep it simple, or go as deep as you want. #Happy distilling!
@@blindguy63 Thank you for sharing this with me ✌🏼 if I may ask, what do you look for temperature wise at the bottom of your column vs. right below your pre condenser ?
George have you ever checked out an armagnac still? They use bubble plates but instead of reflux chamber they introduce preheated wash to the top of their column. It then goes threw the plates. Suppose to capture a lot of the lost esters. Used for a type of brandy but wondered if it could be used for other types of washes?
George, they have these bubble plates in stainless steel. They self clean as the alcohol vapor passes through the column. No need to disassemble which is a pain. Check Aliexpress.
hey George! check out the latest video on how to drink's channel, he started to dip his toes into distillation, and I'm sure your could really help him out with all your experience!
One question, if the reflux column is equiped with a precooler, wahet is the appropriate set point of the temperature we have to obtain in the precooler?
Hi george have you ever added salt to the wash just before you add it to the still the theory behind it is that salt raises the boiling point of water so instead of 100°c it would be say 110 and less water vapour coming out in the end product
So if I had a setup like yours with the same bubbler I was wondering if going with a 3” vs 4” would flow. I’m thinking if I had a taller column or wider with just four or 5 bubble plates on top does that just push more out quicker? Running out of a keg still too. Hypothetical question.
I need help: I have a 1.5 inch (vm) column and I distill 10 liters up to a maximum of 30 liters. Could I increase the diameter of the column considering the few liters? I hope for some answers !!
George has explained this in other videos. Increasing diameter increases the volume of your column. It won't give you higher proof, but it will distill faster. Going to 2" would give you slightly less than double the volume of 1.5". i.e. 10" column x 3.12 x .75 (squared), or 17.55" vs. 31.2" for a 2" column. I don't recall if that's a linear increase in speed of distilling.
George, nice video once again. Thank you! Could you do a video on upgrades or mods to a T500 still? Could you fit this bubbler to a T500 and if yes, would I see any improvement on %ABV or speed?
Your T-500 should be putting out at least 92 % ABV so you won't get any better changing it. If you want to experiment with various columns etc. you'll need to go to a standard still with sanitary connections.
Honestly ive run both and there's a slight difference in alcohol % running bubble plates to just a normal reflux collumn. It just looks cooler but in my mind it doesn't really matter
